


cold cheeks, warm smiles

by fantastiken



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, M/M, Polyamory
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-03-16
Updated: 2014-03-16
Packaged: 2018-06-10 18:23:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,131
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6968851
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fantastiken/pseuds/fantastiken
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Chanyeol loves making new friends.</p>
            </blockquote>





	cold cheeks, warm smiles

Chanyeol meets Sehun for the first time when he’s seven, one day a little bit after 6 pm. He knows it because he has just watched the new episode of Power Rangers with his best friend, Jongin, the kid who lives next door and laughs like he desperately needs air. Chanyeol likes him regardless, because Jongin is nice and has pretty eyes and his smile lacks one tooth and he always gives him a couple of his mom’s freshly baked cupcakes when visits his house to play Yu-Gi-Oh! cards. 

It’s chilly outside, and Chanyeol hides in the scarf his mom has almost stuffed his face with while he waits for Jongin to come down so they can go to the nearby park and play together for a while. 

It’s then, when the bus number 120 pulls up right in front of him and he notices a funny-sized person getting off the vehicle, that Chanyeol sees Sehun for the first time. Well, what he actually sees is a tiny, stumbling kid that looks everywhere with slanted eyes full of determination and maybe a little bit of concern. After a few seconds of glancing at his surroundings, the kid stops and burrows his face in his coat as he visibly shivers. 

Chanyeol wants to approach him and tell him his name, and maybe ask for his in return, because Chanyeol loves making friends and this boy seems like he could be a good one. He looks a little lost, though. His steps are slow, like he’s measuring carefully his every move, and starts walking off towards the park at the end of the street, the one where Chanyeol is supposed to go to with Jongin later. 

He’s really interested in this new kid though, so before he can go too far away Chanyeol shouts, “Hey!” and waves his arm as he runs towards the boy wearing a big smile on his face. He doubts the other can see it because his scarf is too big and it doesn’t let him see very well where he’s going anyways. 

“Hey,” he repeats once he’s closer to the kid, who has stopped walking and now looks at him with furrowed brows that kind of scream _don’t come near me, you weirdo._ Chanyeol doesn’t mind, because he’s gotten that look many times already and he still has friends like Jongin or Kyungsoo. 

(He remembers that day two years ago when he first met Kyungsoo, the tiny boy from his class with huge eyes and full cheeks who looked like he was permanently judging everyone what with his slightly scrunched up brows and pouty lips. Kyungsoo called him a fumbling disgrace when he spilled all over the floor of their classroom the contents of the big crayon box he was carrying around, but apologized when he saw Chanyeol’s eyes watering as he picked up the mess. 

Kyungsoo helped him with the task then, even as the other kids laughed at them, and after that, he gave Chanyeol half of the pieces of _kimbap_ his mom had packed him for lunch. They’d been friends ever since.) 

That’s why Chanyeol is not scared of rejection being the first reaction he gets, so when the boy steps back a little, Chanyeol just stops in his tracks and links his hands behind his back as he bounces nervously on his feet. He itches to get closer but he doesn’t want to scare the kid away, so he stays put, albeit a little begrudgingly. 

“Hello,” he says then, smiling big so the little boy can see it despite the annoying scarf. “My name is Chanyeol.” 

The other just stares at him and furrows his brows even more, as if he were assessing Chanyeol’s sanity. He opens and closes his bare hands alternatively, like he’s about to start running any second, and Chanyeol suddenly wants to lend him his gloves because it’s cold and his hands look like tiny popsicles. 

“Hi,” the kid says eventually, still a little disconcerted. 

“What’s your name?” Chanyeol pushes his glasses up the bridge of his nose as he blinks expectantly. 

“Sehun,” is the dry answer he gets. 

“Why are you here all alone, Sehun?” he tilts his head to the side, and his curls bounce a little bit. 

Sehun gives him a noncommittal shrug as he looks away, and he doesn’t meet Chanyeol’s eyes when he says, “I was bored by myself and wanted to go outside.” 

“Oh,” Chanyeol nods energetically. “So you’re going to meet your friends, aren’t you? They must be waiting for you at the park, right, Sehun?” His tone is innocent and cheery but, for some reason he can’t comprehend, it makes Sehun flinch. 

Sehun nods shakily nonetheless, still not meeting Chanyeol’s eyes. 

“I’ll walk with you then,” he smiles again, and Sehun looks fidgety and much tinier than before. “I was waiting for my friend Jongin to come down, but he’ll find me easily,” he adds with a laugh. Sehun just blinks and says nothing. 

Chanyeol deems acceptable approaching the kid right then. They already introduced themselves, so they’re almost friends already, aren’t they? 

“So,” he starts talking again. “You don’t live nearby, right? I’ve never seen you around.” 

He’s a little unsure, but puts a hand around Sehun’s shoulders anyways in hopes the gesture makes them become super close friends faster, because Chanyeol really likes him and wants to share his food and his toys with Sehun. As they start walking off slowly, he vaguely wonders what kind of _pepero_ Sehun likes the most; he looks like he’d go for the strawberry-flavored one, but maybe the topic needs further discussion with Jongin later on. 

“I…” Sehun bites his lower lip and hides his eyes behind a messy fringe of almost too long, dark hair. “Chanyeol, I…” His voice wavers a little bit, like Jongin’s voice when he’s going to cry, and Chanyeol opens his eyes so much they kind of hurt and stops abruptly. He moves in front of Sehun and grabs his skinny arms in less than a second. 

He’s shaking, and Chanyeol is suddenly hit with the terrible doubt if it’s due to the cold weather or the big, fat tears that run down Sehun’s pale cheeks. 

He gasps, “Sehunnie!” and stares intensely at him, as if that would make Sehun look at him. “Sehun, what’s wrong? Are you alright? Are you cold?” 

Sehun shakes his head and sniffles, staring at the dirty ground in concentration, trying to make his tears subside with little to no success. 

“Then what is it, little Sehunnie?” Chanyeol is slightly scared because he knows what to do to stop Jongin’s tears, but he still has no idea about Sehun. They’re still not super friends, after all, he thinks with alarm. “Did you hurt yourself? Did I make you upset?” he tries, only to get a negative answer in return. 

The wind blows and makes them both shiver, and Sehun sniffles again after he mutters a few words with a tiny, tiny voice. “I ran away from home.” 

Chanyeol looks appropriately scandalized for a second, and he only grabs Sehun’s skinny arms tighter when a squeak tumbles from his mouth. “Why would you do that?!” 

Sehun looks hesitant, but answers nonetheless. 

“I did something bad and mom scolded me.” He gulps and his face scrunches up, like he just swallowed a very bitter pill. “I was embarrassed, so I ran away from home,” he finishes, and he somehow manages to look equally mortified and concerned. 

Chanyeol, in all his seven years of wisdom, quickly _tsks_ and reprimands him. “You shouldn’t do that, Sehunnie! Your mom will be very worried if you disappear!” 

Sehun lowers his head and takes the advice, albeit a bit reluctantly because he’s still embarrassed and this kid is too noisy and his glasses are slipping down the slope of his nose. He just wants to push them up and maybe ask him to take him home afterwards. His thoughts are interrupted, however, when Chanyeol goes “Does your mom know where you are right now?” on him and makes Sehun frown at him. 

He shakes his head no regardless. 

After a few seconds of seemingly deep mulling over Very Important Things, Chanyeol informs him, “You can come to my house, Sehunnie.” After what seems like forever, Chanyeol finally, _finally,_ pushes his glasses up, and Sehun feels more at ease. “My mom can call your mom, and we can play together in the meantime.” 

At the thought of seeing his mom again, Sehun looks scared but hopeful. Chanyeol smiles like everything’s alright, like everything’s going to be alright, and offers him a tiny, but still bigger than his, gloved hand. 

“Let’s be friends, okay?” 

His confidence wavers for an instant. “Okay,” he eventually says, voice shy and almost lost in the unforgiving wind. 

“Come home with me then, it’s really cold out here!” 

Sehun says nothing, but grabs Chanyeol’s outstretched hand nonetheless with hesitant fingers while a pretty blush creeps up his already red cheeks. 

“I’ll introduce you to my neighbor,” Chanyeol says then as he fumbles with the big, metallic door of the entrance hall. “His name is Jongin and he really likes One Piece. He’s very shy, like you, but he’s my super best friend anyways and I wouldn’t change him for anything in the world.” 

Sehun looks sad for a second, until Chanyeol adds, “I’m sure he’ll love having you as our new best friend.” 

Sehun’s eyes shine so bright Chanyeol can’t help but smile big as he thinks Sehun looks like a pretty, gleamy star like the ones he can see blinking up in the sky at night. Sehun is standing right beside him now, so he likes him better. 

They go up the stairs together, hand in hand, and Chanyeol tells Sehun things about Jongin and himself nonstop, and Sehun can’t stop listening in pure awe, like he’s never heard such wondrous things before. Chanyeol notices that he’s nervous, however, because when they get to Jongin’s door, Sehun clutches his hand tighter and almost buries his tiny frame behind Chanyeol’s back. Turning his head, Chanyeol peers at him over his shoulder for a second before he gives him a reassuring smile and rings the doorbell. 

He honestly thinks Jongin might like Sehun as much as he does, because despite his blank stare, his snotty nose and his rough edges, Sehun is cute, and Jongin likes cute things. 

He likes Chanyeol, after all. 

///// 

He was not wrong in the slightest, Chanyeol thinks as he maneuvers the steering wheel of his ridiculously old car. He hopes he’s going in the right direction because he can smell the sea already and it shouldn’t be too far away. He’s been driving for two long hours already. 

He was not wrong because Jongin liked Sehun just fine, and Sehun liked Jongin even more. They opened up to each other easily and became friends at light speed, bonding over the smallest things and common interests (like making Chanyeol’s life miserable, i.e. that magnificent semester they laughed at his expense when he confessed his rampant crush on their Literature teacher in 10th grade, clumsy Mr. Kim Joonmyun). 

Chanyeol still remembers Sehun’s crying face when his mom came to pick him up at Chanyeol’s house a couple of hours later the day they met. That night, Jongin and Chanyeol watched with somewhat amused faces and shy waves of their tiny hands as Sehun walked away with his mother, somehow knowing that they had made a new friend. 

And now, fourteen years later, Chanyeol looks in the rearview mirror and sees Jongin’s sleeping face bouncing gently on the back of his seat. He turns down the volume of the radio so as to not wake him. 

The next time he looks up, however, he catches Jongin’s eyes staring at him full of dreams and a secretive smile, dark irises brimming with promises. His hands rub his eyes lightly to get rid of the sleepiness, and then they sloppily trail down his body until they’re met with a tousled mop of bleached hair. Sehun is still sleeping, head nestled in Jongin’s lap and hands curled around strong thighs under basketball pants. The heat is almost unbearable this summer, but the sea wind caresses their skin and cools them down. 

They’ll get soon to the beach, and Chanyeol will have to remind Sehun to use sunscreen, and he’ll probably forget to bring his own wallet, and Jongin will be inside the water for so long that his fingers will be all wrinkly and they’ll make fun of him for it during the rest of the day, but in the end all that won’t matter. 

It won’t matter because Chanyeol was ―is― after all, right. And everything is alright.

**Author's Note:**

> little sequel [here](http://archiveofourown.org/works/6968830), anyone?


End file.
